Tag Archives: cedar street

18th Century Ship Found At World Trade Center Site (Courtesy: NYTimes/Fred R. Conrad)

If you dig up the past — you’re bound to find something. That’s exactly what archaeologists hired at World Trade Center site were hoping for by working alongside construction crews.

Lower Manhattan since the 18th century has been expanded through the use of landfill. In fact, Battery Park City, our lovely neighborhood, is built upon the land excavation of landfill from the original World Trade Center site in the 1960s. So when an approximately 32 foot hull of an 18th century boat was found — it wasn’t to anyones complete surprise, but the fact that the structure had been largely undisturbed for 200 years at the Liberty Street and Cedar was.

The New York Times has an amazing photographic accounting of the site is astounding and definitely check it out!

One great quote from their article is regarding how lucky they were to have rain yesterday, “Doug Mackey, the chief regional archaeologist for the New York State Historical Preservation Office, was greatful for the rainfall. “If the sun had been out,” he said, “the wood would already have started to fall apart.”

Also according to the article, “A 1797 map shows that the excavation site is close to where Lindsey’s Wharf and Lake’s Wharf once projected into the Hudson. So, no matter how many mysteries now surround the vessel, it may turn out that the ghost even has a name.”

Pretty cool. Who knows Â what treasures lie under Battery Park City. Can you imagine? In the future someone is going to dig up a Volkswagon Beetle or a Pinto as they take the metal on their spaceships.